Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with graduation

What do you wish you had when you graduated?

AceRock — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:13:27 -0800

What (item) do you wish you had when you graduated from college? My brother is graduating from college after this semester and I want to get him a present he will end up really appreciating. So, what (item or items) do you wish someone had given you when you graduated from college, or otherwise entered the real world for the first time?

I don't want want to limit ideas in any way, but if it helps to inspire: he's graduating with a degree in engineering, but he loves writing fiction.

Adult grad gift ideas.

thewalrusispaul — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:54:05 -0800

Help! I need suggestions for a college graduation gift for my 48 year old brother in law that says... I'm really proud of you, you beer drinkin', deer huntin', north woods redneck, wall street worshipin', 80's caine sniffin', Reaganite, mustachioed, b@strd. From your loving, granola crunchin', sandal wearin', organic pimpin', Utne reading, Wellstone worshipin', green believin', bleeding heart, pain in your arse little sister in law. I love you man, way to go!

Graduation + Wedding = Leech?

alpha_betty — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:13:30 -0800

June graduation + August wedding = announcements and invitations go out within a month of each other. Do I look like a gift-grabbing leech? In June, I'm graduating with an AA degree. In August, I'm getting married in a semi-destination wedding.

Owing to the travel involved with attending the wedding, invitations were sent out about a month ago. A few days later, I was reminded that I need to order and send out graduation announcements. The mailing list for the wedding invitations includes everyone who was sent a graduation announcement. About a week ago, I finally mailed the graduation announcements, having tried to wait as long as possible after sending the wedding invitations because of my (maybe asinine?) fear of appearing gift-grabby at worst, and inconsiderate at best.

Since these are both typically gift-heavy occasions I am concerned about how the timing of the announcement and the invitation might be perceived. Do I look like a leech?

Awkward parental relations: how to prevent?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:07:03 -0800

My divorced parents are both going to be at my college graduation party. How do I deal with this? My parents divorced when I was in grade school. It was not a friendly divorce; there was animosity on both sides and all of the "how divorced parents should speak to their child" rules were broken as both mother and father openly squabbled and berated each other in front of me. They still do this, making nasty comments about each other when opportunity arises, but now I am old enough to remove myself from the negative situation.

This weekend, both will be at a smallish graduation party at my apartment. Originally, one parent was not going to attend but when that parent's friends indicated that they would come, that parent felt obligated to attend.

I don't know how to interact with both of them at the same time and feel like the situation will be horribly awkward. For example, what if one parent's friends are all there and the other parent's friends are not? Do I just leave one parent sitting on a couch while I interact with other people/other parent?

I am sort of hoping that the parent:parent friends ratio is equal and that they will both be able to occupy themselves and completely ignore each other. But, if that doesn't happen, how do I deal with this other than just getting really drunk?

Graduation gift for a future homeless counselor?

scottso17 — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:43:22 -0800

My sister graduates college this week, and I want to get her a gift that will be useful for her at work. She'll be counseling homeless people at various shelters and other locations in Washington DC. Besides pepper spray (our running joke), what are some practical gifts I could get her? Price is not important. This will be her first time in the workforce, so some general work stuff might be good, but I'm at a loss for ideas. Also -- something that a mobile worker (i.e., without a regular desk) could use might work too.

I tend to buy her techie gifts, but that's certainly not a limitation. She's very stylish and loves trendy things.

Thanks for your ideas.

Gift ideas for H.S. grad going into architecture

JeremiahBritt — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:50:28 -0800

My sister is graduating high school and heading to Lawrence Tech. to study architecture. What are some gift ideas for things she'll find useful/necessary in her classes? She already has a drafting table and some of the basic t and l-square things, and the university provides laptops. I'll probably be getting her a nice set of Prismacolor markers, but I'm not sure if there is a basic set that will have all that she'll probably need without going over the top.

I don't know that much about architecture to begin with, and I know that X field of study has different material requirements in the professional and educational fields.

Other than the markers, are there any other items a budding architect would find invaluable in their toolkit?

Not a briefcase: what's a good gift for a graduating law student?

anotherpanacea — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:58:56 -0800

My partner is graduating from law school and I'd like to get a really nice gift for her. The caveat: she's adamant that she doesn't want a briefcase. Any ideas? Alcohol-related gifts are also out. I'm not sure if this helps, but she'll be working in DC for a federal agency.

Something cool and novel for a senior class stone?

howgenerica — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:08:58 -0800

It's customary for each graduating class to present a class stone which is ceremonially imbedded in this path-way at my high school; somehow I got roped into getting the one for '08, and since I have less than a month to figure this out, I could really use some ideas! In the past people have done pretty cool things - weird glass window cubes; intricate ceramic tiles; something reminiscent of a subway station sign. I go to an international school in Tokyo, so they try and incorporate elements of Japanese culture, but they don't necessarily have to. I could get anything engraved, or carved into stone and I'm sure I could figure out how to do it if I had a really good idea, but I can't think of anything feasible. And uh, people are expecting something epic.

Please, please help!
Thanks
Erica

Making a snazzy first impression with stationery!

sararah — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:10:44 -0800

I'm going to be graduating with my PhD in chemistry within the next year or so. Should I get business cards? Should I order them with the university logo or just get something with my basic contact info? Recently I was at a conference where I gave a research presentation. Afterwards I was approached by a few folks for a business/contact card and felt unprepared when I didn't have any. Now I'm considering ordering some before I go to another conference, start going to job fairs, and to just have around so I can feel superior with my snazzy business cards. If it matters, I'm a young woman looking for jobs in the scientific R&D industry.

Here are my questions for recent grads (undergrad or grad school) and current professionals who are more worldly in the ways of networking:

1) Is it silly or pretentious for (under)grad students to have business cards?

2) Should I get cards from my university with the logo? Regardless of my future employment prospects, I'll have to get new cards with my snazzy new title after I graduate... (Sararah, PhD, Unemployed and Overeducated, Cardboard Box Under the Bridge, 10108)

3) I take a lot of pictures and they occasionally turn out decent. A while back I ordered some Moo Cards for a craft project. On the off chance that someone would want to hire me to take pictures I think those could serve as contact cards. However, I don't think I would want to use Moo Cards regularly for job hunting purposes since they may appear unprofessional and/or wacky to recruiters in the scientific industry.

4) Good places to order business cards on the web? Seeing as I enjoy a subsistence grad student salary, I'm not looking to order these $200 letterpress beauties. If I decide to go with the university logo, I'll order them from the university printing services.

He'd rather have a hoodie than a hood.

kendrak — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:52:03 -0800

PhinisheD Filter: My partner's graduating after completing his PhD. Should he rent or buy the hood? My partner's finally graduating with a PhD in computer science and walking next month. He's already got a job in the industry and has no plans on returning to academia, so he doesn't really need to buy the cap and gown. I thought he should at least buy the hood and frame/save it afterwards, since that's the most symbolic part of the ceremony for him. (It's not like the tassel will really matter in this case.) He figured he'd just rent the whole thing. We decided to ask the internet for answers. So should he buy the hood or just rent it?

How to inspire teenage graduates in 25 words or less?

Elmore — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:10:30 -0800

Asking for a friend: I'm looking for a short story/anecdote/or whatever that encapsulates the teacher/student relationship. A sentence, short story, poem, song or novel where the point is that education doesn't end at graduation and that teachers - in their infinite adult wisdom - will always have something to learn from their students.

Planning a graduation party in Knoxville on the cheap.

shiu mai baby — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:36:28 -0800

Throwing a party, in Knoxville, on a budget, for a bunch of out-of-towners (myself included). I need suggestions! My sister will be graduating from college in early May of this year. My mom has tasked me with putting together some sort of reception to celebrate (it's been a long, particularly tough struggle for my sister to get to where she is now, so we're all extremely proud of her).

The family (which is quite large) will be descending on Knoxville, and, since I'm not from there and my sister is swamped with her studies, I'm hoping y'all might be able to help me figure out the what and where. Here are the parameters:

- The venue needs to be big enough to accommodate around 30 people, possibly more.
- Centrally located to downtown Knoxville would probably be good, but I won't completely rule out going up into the mountains.
- Although the question of who's ultimately footing the bill is still unanswered, we still need to keep expenses down. I'm ballparking around $15 per person.
- We have a gazillion kids in the group, so kid-friendly is very important.

I've read this thread and this thread, from which I learned about Calhoun's, but I'm open to other ideas. My family is mildy crazy, very casual, and just wants to celebrate my sister's perseverence and reaching the end of a very, very hard road.

What to do for a year?

milestogo — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:26:35 -0800

I'm graduating but want to do something unconvential before I start my business career. What? I'm graduating college in May with a business degree but I'm not ready to settle down into a business career just yet. I'm still looking for new experiences, but I really dont know what new things I would want to do. Help me find that job/activity that I'm going to do for a year. Also, I want to be in NYC next year, so whatever this thing is, it should be do-able here (girlfriend is here.)

I'm probably going into business eventually, but I want to do something else--anything, I'm looking to DO more things then I have--for a year or two before I settle into a career in the business world. Obviously, If I find something I love, I could do that for good.

The kinds of suggestions I'm looking for are things like, "Become a baker! It is a wonderful recipie for one year of happiness and thinking about life!" or "do Teach For America, it changed my life" etc.

I would love to hear any suggestions or stories about past experiences that have impacted your lives or careers. My mind is open to ANYTHING. Please share!

(posted for a friend)

Gift suggestions for disillusioned grad?

quarterframer — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:06:16 -0800

A dear one is graduating with high honors from grad school. She is uncertain at this point if she wants to continue in her field despite years of hard work and a pile of debt. What can I get to inspire her? I would like to get her something inspiring or comforting. I'm avoiding mentioning her field in this question because at this point I think a gift that focuses on it would be a source of further anxiety to her (and she probably has the specific tools she needs anyway). She's going to be taking some "time off" before she decides what to do next.

She is somewhat spiritual but not particularly religious. She's encountering doubts of being able to succeed in her field because she's a very quiet and not particularly assertive person. A voracious reader (though for a gift for this occasion, any book suggestions should be remarkable). She's older than the vast majority of the other grads (in her mid 30s).

I've thought of spa or massage gift certificates but that's less personal than I'd like.

I'm usually not stuck with gift ideas but this one is killing me, even after a search through posts. Budget is $150 or under. Super bonus points for anything I can get my hands on in the next few days, but a late gift will be OK in this case.

What can I do with a Cultural Studies degree?

235w103 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:02:34 -0800

After a college career based on worrying about the present, I've graduated up to worrying about the future. What sort of jobs can I get with a cultural studies undergraduate degree from McGill University (Canada's Harvard!)? To all appearances, it looks like I'm going to graduate from college within the next year. After three universities (Parsons School of Design, Columbia & McGill) and several changes in focus, I've ended up with a degree in Cultural Studies. I've also developed a few unfortunate literary pretentions, to where I think I'd like to make a career, like everyone else on the internet, through writing. I think I'm an alright writer, although I'm still writing like I've got a thesaurus jammed up my ass and I know I have a long way to go. I guess I have a couple of questions-
a) What jobs could one get, in the States and Canada, with just an undergrad cultural studies degree? I'd like to write, and I wouldn't be adverse to writing for magazines, editing, writing for television or film, doing low-level press release writing, etc.- but would any of those jobs be available to me?
b) If I was shooting for a writing job, in some fashion, what sort of things should I be working on now- screenplays, interviews, articles, etc?
c) Every time I open nytimes.com, there's some article about 17 year old quadlingual pearl divers who have internet businesses and doctorates and shit, but are worried about getting into an Ivy. I've just started doing maybe TWO extracurricular activities. Is my resume going to look like cold shit in a Dixie cup?
Sorry this is such a whiny question- I'd just rather ask about my options now instead of when I'm living on my brother's couch. Thank you!

Prove me wrong

MrMulan — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:07:11 -0800

Are US high schools graduation rates for private, parochial, and target schools real? Please prove the cynic in me wrong.

Anecdotally,
-My wife and I both went to separate catholic high schools, with everybody graduating.
-A colleague of mine who went to private school said everyone graduated.

The graduation rate at SuccessTech Academy in Ohio where there was a shooting, the graduation rate is 94% vs 55% for the districts it's in.

However, in my case the school expelled some people in their senior year for bad behavior.
In my wife's case, the school "requested" that certain students not come back for their senior year, for poor academic performance.

My BS detector tells me something is off. You have institutions that put forth graduation and attendance rates, students that go on to college, ect. as prime factors as to why the school is great. These same institutions have the ability to manipulate these rates. Then they are compared to public schools that do not have the same ability for manipulation.

Please prove me wrong.

Asia travel ideas for 18 yr old karate lover?

RoadTripPlanner — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:48:39 -0800

Can anyone recommend any martial arts learning opportunities (camps, workshops, lessons, etc) in Asia that an 18 year old would enjoy? My nephew in the US is a karate brown belt and he would like to travel to Asia when he graduates from high school this year. I am trying to help him find some interesting travel opportunities which relate to karate. He loves karate and has been searching for something to do in Japan or India for Summer 2008 but we haven't found anything yet. Thanks for any tips.

Are internships necessary?

Verdandi — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:18:41 -0800

Are internships really as important to success as my school makes them out to be? I'm getting closer and closer to graduation, and several school officials have expressed to me that they wish me to get an internship before graduation. That's all well and good, but first, I really don't have time for one between full-time school and full-time work (which I've told them). Second, a good half of the internships that they're trying to hook me up with aren't paid internships.

Another mitigating factor is that I already have a job in my field of study (business administration, concentration in human resources), so I'm getting experience.

I figure the college has a deal with these companies where, "we get you cheap/free labor, you give us money or stuff," so I'm a bit wary. They make it seem like if I don't do an internship, I'll never get anything more than an entry level job, ever (yes, I've told them my current job situation).

Anyway, bottom line is, are internships really necessary for success? In my situation, is real-world, full-time job experience in my field good enough (or better)? Thanks in advance.

Gift ideas for a new PhD moving to Africa

parkerjackson — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:36:25 -0800

Any ideas for what a new faculty member (who has to transport everything to Africa) might find useful or nice as a graduation gift from her research lab? The senior grad student in my lab just finished her PhD in Educational Psychology and is moving to Africa to take an academic job where she’ll be setting up Christian educational programs (which incidentally is not related to our lab work). Our advisor wants me to come up with a graduation gift we can give her. He’s thinking something engraved and formal that she might leave in the US, I’m thinking something practical but formal that she could take with her.

She’s very down-to-earth, not into TV or pop culture or having lots of stuff. She'll be living in a largish Nigerian city with an American family. What kind of gift would you suggest for such a person?

What should I buy to help remember my grandma?

ouchitburns — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:24:25 -0800

My grandma recently gave me $500 to buy something lasting to remember her by. My first thought was watch, but I have a watch, so I am hoping for good suggestions of lasting items in that price range (I like ebay). I would like something unique, but maybe there is something that all men should own that I am just not thinking of.

OK to wear doctoral robes without a doctorate?

Flood — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 08:12:16 -0800

Is it OK to wear a doctoral robe at a High School graduation when you do not have a doctorate? I took a one year position at a small Catholic High School in the New York area.

At the recent graduation ceremony, the event program listed the Principal as having graduate from a certain university. This is a famous and prestigous Catholic university, with well known school colors, due to the university's famed sports program. The principal holds a master's degree from that university, the event program did mention what type of degree he holds.

The principal, however, did not wear a master's degree robe. He wore a doctoral robe, with the school colors of his university. To me, this made it appear that he had earned a doctorate from that university.

I was told that it was a "provost robe" - in other words, as the head of the school, he has a right to wear the fancy doctoral robes. I have never heard a "provost robes" - have you? Wouldn't a provost robe have the high school colors, not the school colors of his university.

All of the other faculty seem to think this is no big deal. It is, apparently just for the pageantry of the high school graduation. It is a small, tight-knit faculty. I am leaving the school soon, so it is not a very big deal to me either.

But, I still think that it is kind of wrong. Am I crazy? Are graduation robes no big deal? What do you think?

What should I get my little sister for her High School graduation?

itheearl — Sun, 20 May 2007 20:15:25 -0800

What is the perfect gift from a brother to my little sister for her High School graduation? Ok, I know that this has been covered before,
but my situation is somewhat different (brother/sister vs uncle/nephew), and google is just full of people trying to sell me packaged crap.
I thought you guys might have some useful ideas.

Anyway, I'm looking for a cool gift to a sister from an older brother (2.5 years older). Something that she would get some practical use out of while she's at college, and ideally something tangible. Within the $50-$100 range, though I would perhaps be willing to go a bit over that for an absolutely perfect gift.

Now about my sister:
She's an excellent, well-rounded student, national merit *finalist*, played basketball in high school...
She's fairly straight-edge (and the parents are too), so the bottle of vodka is out.
She likes animals and wants to be a veterinarian (don't ask me why).
She likes to read well-written novels (she likes Jane Austin, for example, but she likes modern authors too.).
She likes popular country music, and probably whatever other music her friends listen to.
And she spends a lot of time with her friends too.

Oh, she's my only sibling, and she'll be coming to the same college as me in the fall.

The graduation is Thursday, so I probably need to be able to get something locally (i have access to most major retail chains).

I skipped out on my degree. Can I run back and get it?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 May 2007 17:31:47 -0800

About three years I graduated from a fairly prestigious art college in the USA. At least...I was supposed to have. I fell hilariously juuuuuuust short of graduating, and now I'm feeling the burn. Thing is, I'm an idiot. I had a science requirement which had to be filled at the last minute with Psychology. This was fine, except depression and other life stuff jumped onto my back and stomped away. It didn't help that I had already graduated - as in, go to the ceremony and see my name read off - and that this was a post-grad summer class. Everything seemed pointless to me. I did fine in the class itself, but I let the "participate in a psych experiment" aspect drift away from me.

At first I had simply forgotten about it, but then I just became lazy and...well, depressed. I wound up not giving a shit about my stupid fine arts degree and working anyway without it. It did not impact my life that I had gone through college and then failed a class on a technicality. Nobody ever asked or asks to see my art degree. I am, as far as I know, not officially a graduate of this art college.

As you can plainly see, that was a mind-blowingly idiotic waste of time and money. I have no excuse for it. I simply kept saying, "oh, I should fix that..." and then not fixing it. And then life marched on. It always seemed more and more stressful to even inquire about it. And now it's the present. And while I'm not directly headed towards grad school - and I'm sure grad schools would ADORE the guy who let his degree plunk out for a lousy few moments memorizing squares or something - it would be kinda, you know, helpful and nice to actually get that degree.

But I am terrified. I am terrified to confront this past, inexplicable failure. I am terrified to have to explain myself to the university so late. And I am terrified that after all this rigamarole, I will be greeted with massive failure: "no, Mr. X, you do not get to reclaim your degree. You do not even get to come back to take and extra science credit to make up for it. There is no sane reason why you wouldn't simply be expelled from any other college for this nonsense. You need to start all over again somewhere else."

If you were me, what would you do? Do I have a chance? How fucked am I? My employment record is uninspiring but existent (although I've done my fun art stuff on the side). What can I do? How should I explain myself? Even in the worst case scenario, where I have to start all over - I mean, what happens there? Will all the credits vanish in a puff of failure?

(And I'm well aware that all this absolute nonsense is tied in with my historically nasty mental health. I'm going to see a shrink after I get my health insurance sorted out this summer, but aside from social services visits from when I was a kid and family members getting treated, I'm not going to be able to present any kind of official diagnosis to my college. Somehow, this feels even lamer - "Hey guys, I was really bummed out and forgot to graduate. Oh, there's no credible record of that.")

I'm sure Homer has said great things.

typewriter — Thu, 17 May 2007 23:52:34 -0800

Help me with a Homer Simpson-esque quote for a keynote speech! (Please.) I am giving a keynote speech to about a thousand people very very soon. I am writing said speech right now. The tone of the whole thing is pretty casual and funny and hopefully inspiring. The beginning of the speech, I send up the cliches of graduation speeches with their overused quotations from old dead guys and that 'go into the world young man' attitude. I then go into what I think is practical advice. I would like to end coming back to a quirky inspirational quote from something completely pop-culture and unexpected, like Homer, or Stewie, or South Park or Spiderman or something like that. So the end would be something like: "Seemingly an inspirational quote from old dead writer - Homer Simpson, Season 5." And maybe some laughs, and then I congratulate them and boot off the stage, taking care not to trip on the damn gown. Anyway, any suggestions for a quote like that?

Gift suggestions for architecture student?

mullacc — Thu, 10 May 2007 13:17:46 -0800

GiftFilter: Help me pick a graduation gift for my brother, who is headed to grad school for architecture. I had a gift picked out, but that was when he had plans to find a job in finance (his undergrad degree). But now, thankfully, he's decided to pursue his passion and go back to school for architecture. So now I'm trying to come up with something that would be useful to an architecture student.

My budget is ~$300. I know he would like a Wacom tablet, but I'm unsure how wise it would be to buy one before he gets a better idea of the equipment his new school (Michigan) will have and whether he'll get a big student discount. He also mentioned something about a portfolio case. Any guidance on the above or new suggestions would be appreciated.